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Tokyo Disneyland
|closing_date = |resort = Tokyo Disney Resort |location = Urayasu |location2 = Chiba |location3 = Japan |area = |theme = Fairy tales and Disney characters |coordinates = |homepage = Tokyo Disney Resort Homepage |operator = The Oriental Land Company }} is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be built outside the United States, and it opened on 15 April 1983. The park was constructed by Walt Disney Imagineering in the same style as Disneyland in California and Magic Kingdom in Florida. It is owned by The Oriental Land Company, which licenses the theme from The Walt Disney Company. Tokyo Disneyland and its companion park, Tokyo DisneySea, are the only Disney parks not wholly or partly owned by the Walt Disney Company (however, Disney has creative control). The park has seven themed areas: the World Bazaar; the four classic Disney lands: Adventureland, Westernland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland; and two mini-lands: Critter Country and Mickey's Toontown. Many of these areas mirror those in the original Disneyland as they are based on American Disney films and fantasies. Fantasyland includes Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White's Scary Adventures, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, based on classic Disney films and characters. The park is noted for its extensive open spaces, to accommodate the large crowds that visit the park. In 2013, Tokyo Disneyland hosted 17.2 million visitors, making it the world's second-most visited theme park behind the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort. Dedication }} History The initial contract for the construction of Disneyland in Tokyo was signed in April 1979. Japanese engineers and architects visited California to tour Disneyland and prepare to construct the new park. The construction of the park began a year later and was covered by hundreds of reporters as an indication of the high expectations for the park in the future. The final cost of Tokyo Disneyland was 180 billion yen rather than the projected 100 billion yen. Despite this, Tokyo Disneyland has been a constant source of pride since opening day over 30 years ago. Themed areas With a few exceptions, Tokyo Disneyland features the same attractions found in Disneyland and Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. World Bazaar as part of a celebration.]] World Bazaar is the main entry corridor and primary shopping area of Tokyo Disneyland. Despite the use of the word "World" in its name, the general look and theme of World Bazaar is that of early 20th-century America, matching the "Main Street, U.S.A." areas of other Magic Kingdom-style parks. World Bazaar consists of two intersecting "streets": Main Street (the primary corridor running from the main entrance toward Cinderella Castle), and Center Street, which forms a perpendicular line with Main Street and leads to Adventureland in one direction and Tomorrowland in the other. World Bazaar has a permanent canopy covering the Main Street and Center Street areas, designed to protect guests from the elements. Adventureland .]] Adventureland consists of two distinct yet complementary areas: A New Orleans-themed area and a "jungle"-themed area. It is roughly a combination of the New Orleans Square and Adventureland areas found in Disneyland Park in the United States. Westernland .]] Westernland is an "old west" themed area, the counterpart of Frontierland in other Magic Kingdom-style parks. Like its counterparts, the landscape of Westernland is dominated by the Rivers of America, a man-made waterway that is home to the Mark Twain Riverboat, Tom Sawyer Island and numerous live and Audio-Animatronic animals. Critter Country Critter Country is a small area of the park and is dominated by a single major attraction, Splash Mountain. Fantasyland .]] Like other Magic Kingdom theme parks, Fantasyland's central entryway is a castle, in this case Cinderella Castle, a near exact copy of the one in Florida's Magic Kingdom. Lacking any "thrill rides," Fantasyland's attractions are generally dark rides that take visitors through scenes from classic Disney movies such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Peter Pan, and Pinocchio. Toontown Like its counterparts in other Disney theme parks, Toontown (called "Mickey's Toontown" at other Disney parks) is heavily inspired by the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Appropriately, the major attraction here is Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. Tomorrowland Tomorrowland has a more urbane look and appears more like a community than a showcase of future technology. Rides include Space Mountain and Star Tours–The Adventures Continue. Attendance Future Since the park opened in 1983, Tokyo Disney Resort has regularly been one of the most profitable Disney Resorts. By 1994, over 140 million people had entered through the gates of Tokyo Disneyland, more than Japan's entire population of 127.6 million at the time. Since then, its popularity has only increased. Just two years later, it employed 12,390 people, marking Tokyo Disneyland the biggest workplace in Japan’s diversionary outings. Though the attendance is similar to that of other Japanese theme parks, the revenue produced by Tokyo Disneyland is greater than all the other Japanese theme parks combined. Many speculate that Tokyo Disneyland is such an economic success due to timing and location; the theme park lies in a metropolitan area with a population of 30 million and opened at the height of a booming economy where hard-working citizens desired an escape from reality. One of the main goals of Tokyo Disneyland is to improve the park and diversify from the limits of the domestic Disney parks. Tokyo Disneyland has recently been adding a national identity within the parks by adding attractions with distinctly Japanese qualities. Cinderella Castle displays the classic Disney character and story plot yet presents the story through the eyes of the Japanese. Once dominated by Disney Legends, Masatomo Takahashi, the former president of The Oriental Land Company, states this growth and development as one of its primary goals: "We must not just repeat what we receive from Disney. I am convinced that we must contribute to the cultural exchange between Japan and U.S.A." Incidents See also *List of Tokyo Disneyland attractions *Rail transport in Walt Disney Parks and Resorts *Tokyo DisneySea References External links * Tokyo Disney Resort web site in Japanese and English * Resort Maps in Japanese and English * Google Maps (satellite image) (Latitude: 35.633 Longitude: 139.882) * Tokyo Disneyland Opening https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055342/http://www.olc.co.jp/en/50th/03.html Category:Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Category:Tokyo Disney Resort Category:Tokyo Disneyland Category:1983 establishments in Japan Category:Amusement parks in Japan Category:Tourist attractions in Chiba Prefecture Category:Amusement parks opened in 1983